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25 Priestesses 25 Priestesses In this chapter we take up a new subject, namely the role of women in religious worship. We will begin at the top of the scale, with the priestesses, and end with the ordinary housewife in chapter 29. We know much about the particular responsibilities the ‘religious women’ held because they occupied important positions and their activities are well documented.1 They were highly placed women whom we reverently call priestesses since they played a role in the cult worship. In the Old Babylonian period there were other women whom we call nuns. They had religious tasks, such as praying and perhaps making offerings for the dead,2 and often lived in special building complexes. Because we call them nuns, the place where they lived as a group we naturally call a convent. They had no (biological) children (see Chapters 26 and 27). 25.1 The high priestesses 25.1.1 The entu The Akkadian word entu for a priestess is evidently a feminine form modelled on the Sumerian word en, ‘lord’. In Sumerian and older Akkadian she was referred to as an en and enum, a masculine form.3 It is thought that around 3000 BC en was the Sumerian title of the ruler of the city of Uruk, the man beside Inanna, the patron goddess of the city. They met together in the Gipar, her dwelling in the city. Five hundred years later, in the Old Akkadian perod, the highest priestess of the moon god in Ur took on that masculine title, and this must have been a deliberate revival of an institution.4 She was also called the ‘son’ of her father, and some- 1 For a survey see J. G. Westenholz, ‘Women of religion in Mesopotamia: the high priestesses in the temple’, Canadian Society of Mesopotamian Studies Journal (= CSMSJ) 1 (2006) 31–44. 2 R. Harris, Studies A. L. Oppenheim (1964) 108, rejects the word ‘priestess’ because in the texts she does not find ‘specific religious prescriptions’ or ‘sacerdotal functions’; cf. p. 121, and Ancient Sippar (1975) 303 n. 1. This depends on the definition of ‘priestess’. See also L. Barberon, Les religieuses et le culte de Marduk dans le royaume de Babylone (2012) 1 n. 1. In the entry ‘Priester’ in RlA X/7–8 (2005) only high priestesses (p. 622 f., 626–628) and the ‘nun’ (633 f.) are discussed. 3 Akkadian enu, CAD E 179. It clearly indicates a woman in the omen ‘the e-nu-um will be sub- jected to sexual intercourse (šuḫḫû, nâku)’. See also D. Charpin, NABU 2004/78. The masculine form reminds one of masculine zikrum, by which the court woman sekretu was meant. 4 P. Steinkeller in: K. Watanabe, Priests and officials in the Ancient Near East (1999) 103–137; see B. Lion, ‘Sexe et genre (2). Des prêtresses fils du roi’, in: F. Briquel-Chatonnet, Femmes (2009) 165–182. © 2016 Marten Stol, published by De Gruyter Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License. 556 Priestesses times the ‘brother’ of her brother.5 Her masculine titles perhaps perpetuate a tradition. On the other hand, it has been proved that in Old Sumerian the word ‘son’ could also mean ‘daughter’, and that word possibly was perpetuated as an archaism.6 Still other commentators prefer the idea that the masculine noun indicated her independent status. The entu priestess served a male god, and was sometimes called his ‘wife’.7 In Ur, when she first became a priestess, with the title en (entu), she was given a new, pious, Sumerian name, which always began with the element En.8 The male priests, who served the goddesses, also had the title en.9 Year 8 of Ur-Nammu was called ‘The year that a son of Ur-Nammu was chosen as the en of Inanna in Uruk by liver extispicy.’ Kings liked to call themselves the en of the city of Uruk. Possibly all they meant by this was to suggest that they were the en of the goddess Inanna of Uruk, but only King Anam stated this explicitly.10 The kings of Isin called themselves the en or even the ‘husband’ of Inanna of Uruk.11 The kings of Ur III and Isin in hymns refer to themselves as having the status of an en alongside their status as a king. Šulgi, when serving the gods Enlil and Ninlil during their evening meal in this capacity, is shown clad in a special garment.12 As for the women, we note that outside Mesopotamia in early times they also could become the wife of the god. In Ebla in Syria, south of Aleppo, we know of four princesses who were appointed as ‘the wife of the god’ (dam dingir). They were in the service of the god Idabal, in his temple in the town of Luban, not far from Ebla.13 When Princess Tinib-Dulum set out to go there she bore the title ‘the sister of the king’. In fact she was the daughter of the previous king, Irka b-Damu. She took with her in her luggage clothes, jewels, household items and small pieces of furniture. Five princes and many officials accompanied her with presents for the priests. After a few years the princess left and returned to Ebla. There she had previously had the same position in the service of the Kura, the god of Ebla. She 5 En-ane-du, on her seal; RIME 4 (1990) 257. 6 Lion, ‘Sexe et genre (2)’, 177. 7 J. Renger, ZA 58 (1967) 146 f. § 56 (nin.dingir). For ‘wife’ (dam), see below. 8 For a discussion of such En- names see D. O. Edzard, ZA 53 (1959) 15–18. 9 Renger, 133 § 35, 143 (nin.dingir both of gods and goddesses); idem in: Le temple et le Culte (= CRRAI 25) (1975) 112. The exception is the male en, serving the male god Enlil in Nippur (Ur III, OB); J. G. Westenholz, Nippur at the Centennial (1992) 304, 306; M. Sigrist, Les sattukku dans l’Ešumeša durant la période d’Isin et Larsa (1984) 161. 10 Steinkeller, 130. For a survey see M.-J. Seux, Épithètes royales (1967) 396. 11 Renger, ZA 58, 126 n. 95, 133; D. O. Edzard, ZZB (1957) 77 f. 12 J. Klein, Studies H. Tadmor (1991) 298 (Šulgi G 50–52), with a complete survey in n. 31. 13 A. Archi, ‘The high priestess, dam-dingir, at Ebla’, Festschrift O. Loretz (1998) 43–53; F. Weiers- häuser, Die königliche Frauen der III. Dynastie von Ur (2008) 245–249. The high priestesses 557 was succeeded by Ammaga.14 At that same time Sargon, the king of Akkad (ca. 2300 BC), appointed his daughter as an entu priestess of the god Nanna, the moon god, in the temple at Ur. In doing this he started a tradition which would persist until the middle of the Old Babylonian period. And then, more than a thousand years later, it would be revived by King Nabonidus. His daughter lived in Ur in the Gipar, a kind of convent. Another convent, also called the Gipar, lay outside Ur and has been excavated.15 In Ur it was traditional for the moon god Nanna to be served by this priestess, who had to be a daughter of the king. By appointing his daughter as priestess there he satisfied his political aim of controlling the city of Ur.16 Conquerors, as we shall see, did not have the effrontery to remove the priest- ess who had been installed. This cult was not confined to Ur. Not far away, in Ga’eš, King Amar-Sîn, as ‘the beloved son of Nanna’, established a convent for Nanna called the Gipar in the temple of Karzida. This he did ‘for the first time in history’ and ‘he caused En-aga- zi-ana, his beloved priestess (en), to enter there’.17 The celebration ceremonies of her investiture lasted from day 23 to day 30 of the harvest month.18 Six years later she died and three months afterwards her successor took over.19 The year Amar-Sîn 9 is named ‘The year that En-Nanna-Amar-Sîn.ra-ki.ág was installed as en of Nanna of Karzida’.20 Other priestesses functioned similarly for other gods in other cities. Now and again we shall refer to them but we shall concentrate on the priestesses of Nanna in Ur.21 14 Archi, 46–48. Previously the name was read as Sanibdulum. 15 Renger, ZA 58, 128 f., 130 n. 134, 139 n. 213 (nin.dingir). For the Gipar in Uruk see A. Falken - stein, Baghd. Mitt. 2 (1963) 33 (of Niši-inišu, the ereš.dingir of Lugalbanda, daughter of King Sîn- kašid); Weadock, 124 f. 16 Išbi-Erra of Isin; Renger, ZA 58, 118 f. 17 H. Steible, FAOS 9,2 (1991) 231–234, Amar-Suen 8. 18 J. G. Westenholz, CSMSJ 1, 35b. 19 W. Sallaberger, JCS 47 (1995) 18 f.; ZA 82 (1992) 132 f., on FAOS 16 no. 767. 20 This was confirmed by a text recording a sacrifice made ‘on the day when En-Nanna- Amar-Sin-ki.ág-ana was installed as priestess of Ga’eš’. Date: 14 XII Amar-Sîn 8. See P. Micha- lowski, JCS 42 (1990) 119 f.; Westenholz, CSMSJ 1, 35b. 21 Important articles include E. Sollberger, AfO 17 (1954–56) 26–29, 45 f., who thought they were all known; P. N. Weadock, ‘The Giparu at Ur’, Iraq 37 (1975) 101–128; see also M. van de Mieroop, Ur (1992) 115–117.
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